MSI Mag x570 Tomahawk M.2 slot use (CPU vs Chipset)

[TJ Ping]

I have been searching all day for the answer to my question to no avail.

Specifically, what is the performance difference between using the M.2 slot 1 (cpu) versus the M.2 slot 2 (chipset) on the MSI Mag x570 Tomahawk?

My dilemma is that I have two Samsung 980 Pro NVMe drives. One is 250GB for the OS and the other is a 1TB for gaming. I am trying to decide which slot to mount them in.

I get it... I understand that there is virtually no performance difference between the two... yet. Who knows what is going to happen in 3 or 4 years though. I really don't care if my OS boots .01s faster, but I do care if there is even a .001% difference between the slots in memory access/data transfer for gaming. Which slot has the optimal path for gaming? Thanks!

Main Build Components:
- MSI Mag X570 TOmahawk
- Ryzen 5950
- MSI 3090 Gaming X Trio
- Samsung 980 Pro 250GB + 1TB NVMe drives
- Insert X system memory here... have the vengeance 3200 currently, may look for faster supported memory

 

[andy_mk3]

The CPU slot will be faster, but we're talking about the tiniest amount which would only show up in benchmarks and maybe some professional workloads. It will not be noticeable even slightly for games.

 

[TJ Ping]

Thanks, I appreciate the response. With the guys that I play with/against, it often comes down to imperceptible differences that decide who wins and who loses

 

[andy_mk3]

Your storage isn't going to affect games beyond loading times.

 

[TJ Ping]

Your storage isn't going to affect games beyond loading times.

Huh... Learn something new every day. My last full system build lasted me over a decade and was back when the leap in technology was from spinning HDDs to the first gen SSDs. Thanks for planting the curiosity seed. The research of this has been informing.

 

[andy_mk3]

Once you move from spinning drives to solid state, the gains in gaming are very small, load times will improve but any solid state drive is fast enough to load data in-game to prevent any issues.

 

[pc-guy]

Both slots should be giving you the same speed as both are pcie4x4

 

[andy_mk3]

Both slots should be giving you the same speed as both are pcie4x4

Going through the chipset will give you extra latency, plus the 4x4 link for the chipset is shared.

 

[pc-guy]

Going through the chipset will give you extra latency, plus the 4x4 link for the chipset is shared.

It’s not shared. It is dedicated. Shared means if something gets plugged into other PCIe slots or SATA drives then you start loosing bandwidth or loosing the m.2 slot completely. The m.2 vis chipset is not affected by any additional SSD or pcie peripheral when those are added. What you understand shared is that the PCIE4 lanes is part of the ryzen cpu PCIE4 budget. Which is also the case for the first m.2 slot that is directly connected to the cpu. But it doesn’t mean they “share” bandwidth with other devices. They got their dedicated 4 lanes and nothing else can be on it other than communications from the m.2 drives and the cpu.

latency is marginal. The nvme controller latency will be much much larger than what the extra few cm of PCB circuit and chipset pass through will do.

 

[Nermand]

Hi guys, I have this mobo and 1tb Samsung 970 Evo Plus installed in one of the M2 slots, I'm wondering if it's worth to buy another 1 tb Samsung 970 Evo Plus ( on offer now ) for the other slot? Please advise.

 

[EsaT]

Hi guys, I have this mobo and 1tb Samsung 970 Evo Plus installed in one of the M2 slots, I'm wondering if it's worth to buy another 1 tb Samsung 970 Evo Plus ( on offer now ) for the other slot? Please advise.

There's no any special discounts at the moment on OcUK.
WD Black SN750 is cheaper.
WD Black 1TB SN750 M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0C)= £119.99

And with parts changed it isn't even entirely that top drive it was with drop in sustained write speed:
https://www.extremetech.com/computi...atest-ssd-manufacturer-cheating-its-customers

Anyway what's the use for drive?

 

[Nermand]

Many Thanks for your reply. The plan is to keep the system on one and games separately on the other one. Already have 1 Tb Samsung 970 Evo plus and 2 Tb Seageate Barracuda 7200rpm.

 

[Nermand]

Hi Guys,

Trying to install an SSD in the lower M.2 slot and when I go to re-attach the heatsink, I'm running into problems.

The MOBO came with a heatsink. I remove the screw holding the heat sink and remove the heat sink.

I then install my m.2 drive, and the tiny screw to hold it in place.

Issue is that I can’t seem to install the heat sink back. There are no holes for the heat sink screw to go back into as it’s taken up by the tiny m.2 screw.

Should I not use the tiny screw and just put the heat sink right on top and install the heat sink screw?

Many Thanks in advance.

 

[ljt]

Hi Guys,

Trying to install an SSD in the lower M.2 slot and when I go to re-attach the heatsink, I'm running into problems.

The MOBO came with a heatsink. I remove the screw holding the heat sink and remove the heat sink.

I then install my m.2 drive, and the tiny screw to hold it in place.

Issue is that I can’t seem to install the heat sink back. There are no holes for the heat sink screw to go back into as it’s taken up by the tiny m.2 screw.

Should I not use the tiny screw and just put the heat sink right on top and install the heat sink screw?

Many Thanks in advance.

If I'm reading it correctly, you use the screw that held the heatsink to the board originally, to now hold both the NVME and the heatsink to the board.

 

[Dempsey22]

Hi Guys,

Trying to install an SSD in the lower M.2 slot and when I go to re-attach the heatsink, I'm running into problems.

The MOBO came with a heatsink. I remove the screw holding the heat sink and remove the heat sink.

I then install my m.2 drive, and the tiny screw to hold it in place.

Issue is that I can’t seem to install the heat sink back. There are no holes for the heat sink screw to go back into as it’s taken up by the tiny m.2 screw.

Should I not use the tiny screw and just put the heat sink right on top and install the heat sink screw?

Many Thanks in advance.

I just installed 2.

Remove 2 screws holding on heatsink, put in drive. Screw in tiny m.2 screw into standoff to hold drive in place (theres 4 in a bag inside mobo box), then screw heatsink back on.

 

[Nermand]

Thanks Guys,

It's sorted now. I had to remove one of the standoffs to install it properly. I just used the heat sink screws.